Irish homeless benefit most but poor box faces revamp
Howard Lake | 21 September 2005 | News
FR Peter McVerry’s charity for homeless young people in Dublin was the single biggest beneficiary of payments from the court poor box, figures from the Courts Service show. The charity, which provides hostel accommodation, services for drug users as well as drug-free accommodation, received almost ‚€103,000 from poor box receipts last year, according to the Courts Service.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul was the next biggest beneficiary receiving almost ‚€100,000 from payments made to the poor box, with over ‚€64,000 of this paid under the system in Dublin District courts.
The figures show charities and good causes benefited by just over ‚€1m last year with over half being paid to Dublin District courts.
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A new report published last night urged the overhaul of the poor box scheme to get rid of the perception it is a way of avoiding a conviction and/or a term of imprisonment.
Launching the Law Reform Commission’s report on the poor box, Courts Service Chief Executive, PJ Fitzpatrick, said in its current operation, it could create the perception there is one law for the rich and a different law for the poor.
The LRC is now recommending the system, which operates on the basis that a person charged with a minor offence may be given the opportunity to avoid a criminal record by making a contribution to charity, be completely revamped.
If the Government acts on the LRC’s recommendations, the existing scheme would be renamed the Financial Reparation Order and its funds managed within the Department of Justice by an expert advisory committee.
Under the current system, money paid into the poor box is distributed at the discretion of the country’s district court judges. Charities can also apply for funds.
Among other beneficiaries were Guido Nasi, the young Italian student left wheelchair-bound after he was savagely attacked in a Dublin park in 1999, received ‚€2,850.
Guido, then only 17, suffered suffered irreversible injuries after he had a bottle cracked over his head in Dublin’s Fairview Park.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.